out of touch for who? I was quoting the band, not your free loading self. If you are as happy being in the lot as opposed to being inside the show, you have made your point loud and clear. If you need to "acquire the goods which mark you as loyal to the band", you have made your point loud and clear.
Evidently not, since none of that is what I said or meant.
I really appreciate your attitude. You don't know anything about me, but I assure you, you would withhold the insults. Who's a freeloader? I acquire my tickets fairly and freely, and no, I am quite unhappy on the few instances where I have been left out.
I'm perfectly aware of what you're quoting. I saw it on '95 tour, and it was, as I said, a kick to the gut. If I had taken this seriously, I would never have been a Deadhead.
I don't need to "acquire goods, etc" but a lot of people do. There are unique crafted items available on Shakedown and no where else, and these items go out into the world to enhance the culture and promote the band. The money made there, my point was, filters to the band and is arguably the economic fuel which kept the Dead so sustainable for so long. There were of course other aspects that I won't go into.
Barlow said, "If you make art, and people don't understand it, it's worthless. If people start understanding it, how much of the ownership belongs to them?" That sums up how I feel about the issue. The band, and the fans, are symbiotic. Vending fans are contributing a great deal of their earnings to the band. More than that, a marketplace has always been a center of culture, and Shakedown is a lot of what distinguishes us from fans of other types of music. It's ours. We have a stake in it, and in the choices the band makes. Ultimately, it is our energy and resources that allow it happen at all, and yes, my "freeloading self" has spent thousands of dollars on tickets. I have also been gifted tickets in wonderful ways, and those are most special memories.
As far as the band's sentiments...well, there was a lot of dark stuff going on then, and they were right to be alarmed. They were musicians staring down a potential Altamount at every stadium show that year. They were upset and afraid. I respect that. I don't go for gate-crashing. Every show I have attended with a legitimate ticket. Gate-crashing is dangerous and unfair to others.
I still feel that the wrong scapegoats were being blamed. This message did not address the real problem, which was not caused by vendors or people "attracted" by them. The real problem was that it was too big, too many people wanted in, and the vibe was overwhelming. In retrospect, too, I think there were shock waves from what was about to happen. The scene died in pace with Jerry.
When I say "out of touch" I don't mean disrespect. I have a deep and abiding love for all the signatories of that letter, all of them are magical musicians and fine people who did and do a lot for the world. Yet the band has a different vantage, necessarily isolated, from the fans, and I disagree with the way they approached this. The only people who would take such a message to heart are the people who weren't really a problem in the first place. Sometimes I disagree with a song they play too. It's okay. We can disagree without disrespecting each other.
You can insult me, but you have clearly misconstrued what I have to say, and rushed to assumptions. You might remember that you might be talking to anyone here, so you might reserve your judgment and maybe open your mind.
